Finding the Point
by RogueTwister
Summary: They had always relied on each other because their bond was stronger than the hardiest blizzard on Earth. But when their past before the past, wit, strength, and trust is tested in a game of belief, nightmares, and frustration, they begin to question who they really are as particular events begin to unravel. It becomes difficult to find the point.
1. Chapter 1

Author's intro: Not a romance story, but perhaps later. I do not own anything.

* * *

The two figures zoomed through the white forest, rustling the branches of frozen trees, and causing snow to scatter around them as they passed each plant. Without pausing to think, they leaped over logs that had a thick layer of rough snow on them and ducked under the low arms of each fur and pine tree. Each rock, handful of dirt, twig, branch, patch of moss, or frozen puddle the two leaped over, stepped, ducked under or ran through hardly grazed them, for they did this almost every day when the winter season rolled around. If you looked close enough, you might just be able to see that everything changed in one way or another as they ran by them; every plant or object had suddenly developed a new layer of ice or snow over them, and they were sentenced to another few months of sustained stillness and cold.

Yet again.

When the two stopped, male and female both erupted into chuckles filled with amusement as they turned around to witness their year-round work. After recovering swiftly, the duo sat on a nearby rock.

They were settled next to a lake that was completely frozen and blanketed in snow. A light sprinkle of white had started to make soft sputtering sounds around the two as it landed on their heads and broad shoulders.

* * *

If you were to suddenly come up to the pair of winter conjurers in a threatening manner, they would spring to action, jointed together in a ready battle position. They would be ready to destroy you within a second. They would be prepared to defend each other until death and beyond and they would defeat you easily. The two had the power and will to do so, for they were the harsh blizzard you heard about a week ago that killed countless people. They were the source of joy for young children when a week of school was canceled from the danger of the ice. They were always that chill you got when you stepped outside to take the trash out, and they were certainly behind your grey breath that appeared when you exhaled outside in the morning. It was them that made the thunderous hail stampede your roof and it was by their doing that you could feel the crispy air bite at your hands and nose when you walked outside to your vehicle or went out for a run.

They were winter warriors of the harshest storms, the coldest icicle, the slickest ice, and the strongest gust of wind. They were unbreakable.

So far.

* * *

The female turned to the male and she notices his blazing white hair with a tinge of blue that was tussled about in all directions. She observes his pale fingers curled around a long, twisting staff that was as tall as him. She smiles at him, and he responds with one of his own, lips drawn up in a playful smirk. She stands up to stretch slightly, arms raising high into the clean air. He sees her long, black strands of hair draping her face, the rest bundled tightly into a scattered bun. He can distinguish her sharp features; slightly pointed cheekbones, crystal-like grey and blue eyes, long legs, and vaguely protruding hips all but made her daunting and stunning figure. However, appearances are often deceptive, for these two individuals were not what your average human was made of.

Scratch the human part, and you are halfway right.

* * *

"I have to admit, this never gets old, does it?" Moraina chimed, turning to Jak.

"Yeah. I think it comes with being a harbinger of icicles and frozen water," Jak answered almost sarcastically.

"You think? I thought it was just me," the girl replaced Jak's almost-sarcasm with the real tone. Jak rolled his eyes and turned to the lake that sat in front of them. Silence hung in the air as the two surveyed the sight of the still substance.

"What say you we continue to the town? We have to ice up all of the roads, don't forget," Jak stated as if it were a daily, unburdened chore. Moraina agreed and soon enough, the two of them were once again were scorching through the forest, racing to see who could reach civilization first.

* * *

When both manipulators of storms reached the houses, paved roads, and laughing children of Barlow, it would be obvious to anyone that they were not attempting to hide themselves. Stepping right out towards the children and grownups shoveling snow, Moraina danced around the houses in the air to make it snow, hovering around like a graceful ballerina. Jak, on the other hand, did not prefer to dance. He liked to fly here and there with his staff raised, waving and twirling it this way and that to trigger a minimal build-up of ice and clear up the air of any humidity and warmth that might be lingering. With both of them working together, the snow thickened as it fell, sticking to the pavement and sidewalks. The air was instantly crisper and drapes covering windows were opened to reveal childrens' and adults' faces peering through at the breath-taking sight.

Landing soundlessly by a statue in the middle of the town, the two surveyed their work proudly. As simple as it had been, it was always a lovely sight to see; the snow raining down almost silently, the breath of laughing kids creating puffs of grey, and the frost kingdom they had created was always leaving not only them, but everyone in awe.

"I think we did okay. You?" Moraina declared happily, brushing off her grey sweatshirt.

"I would have to agree. It just gets easier each decade. What do you say we join their sled race?" Jak gestured to a group of teenage girls and boys racing down a steep hill with their stomachs on a wooden sled with jovial faces.

"Why not?" They glided over to the jumpy teenagers and spent the next several moments messing around with their race trials. Jak began messing with the ice on the road, speeding and slowing the sled down by melting and creating various layers of ice every so often. Moraina got her entertainment by pushing and holding the sled while occasionally establishing massive gusts of wind that twisted the ride back and forth...and sometimes straight into large piles of snow.

* * *

By the end of the day, the groups of desciples were not the only ones laughing.

"Did you see that girls' face when she couldn't get the luge to stay in line?" Jak blurted, gasping for air after laughing for so long.

"You betcha. Did you see the guys' mouth drop when he saw how his friend get thrown into the pile of snow?" Moraina chortled, the ever-present smile that had been plastered to her face for hours on end now.

"Oh yeah. I swear I will never forget his look," Jak returned his own show of teeth, and the pair walked down the street, spreading more icy features. Icicles began to grow steadily on rooftops, and windows began fogging and developing another layer of ice.

After several minutes of more light chuckles, Jak and his partner remained silent, walking down the orange streetlights, illuminating their path.

To break it, Moraina asked, " Do you think we're the only...I don't know...like, invisible people? I mean, you had that one encounter with that huge, talking rabbit...but I don't really count him. Do you?"

Jak thought about it before answering, " No. He claimed to be the Easter Bunny. I mean, I'm Jak Frost and you're Moraina Zard, so I guess that would make sense but...there has to be more people, er, spirits like us. We can't be the only ones. That would just be..."

"Suspicious?" Moraina finished with a raised eyebrow. She thought it could be, among other things.

"Maybe. I was thinking the same thing, but I think it would be sort of...unsettling. In a way," the winter-bringer's voice was slightly choppy but sure.

"Unsettling. Like...are you thinking that being the only ones immortal would be...a curse?" She inquired, looking at him with a questioning look and a piercing gaze. Jak turned towards her to answer.

"Well yeah. Could you imagine watching life go by for centuries, unable to really phase it? You would control the weather yes, but...to go through years and years of witnessing tragedy, happiness, and everything else in between without-" Jak stopped walking, his face suddenly hard.

"What? Jak?" Moraina's forehead wrinkled in concern.

"I just...um. I just realized something," it was now his turn to fix his eyes on his only ally.

"How long have both of us been around?"

Moraina swore an invisible light bulb had just blinked to life above her head.

"A while. At least...a-hundred years?" Her response was unsure, but Jak took no notice.

"Exactly. Why is it that neither of us can remember-" Moraina noticed her best friends' gaze move past her and upwards slightly, and she saw his eyes widen.

Turning around, she witnessed a black figure standing behind her. The shoulders were square, nose long, pointed chin, and his hair was black and pulled back tightly. He wore a dark cloak and his tall stance and white hands added to his demoralizing figure.

Despite his strange appearance, it was not on the either of the twosome's minds. What was the most outstanding, was this peculiar black, shadowy substance that surrounded him almost protectively.

His voice was dangerously slick and pointed. " What is lovely couple like you doing out in a night like this?" It almost sounded as if he were curiously suspicious.

Instantly, Jak was at Moraina's side.

"I might ask you the same thing," he snarled.

The shadow laughed, his white hands folding behind his back as he leaned forward ever so slightly.

"And in what position are you to ask me that? Do you know who I am?"

"Does it look like it?" Moraina retorted, anger boiling in her chest. She had half of a mind to cut this mans' head off.

"Oooh, feisty, are we? I would watch that tongue of yours, or you might not have one for very long," the shadow-like man's voice was dripping with venom as the hostility in his voice grew.

"Try the other way around, dillweed," Jak snapped. The man wasted to time.

With a swift, fluid motion, Moraina only saw a white flash as it swept across Jak's face with uncanny speed. She only had time to witness him hit the icy ground, as it was followed with a silky laugh.

Moraina did not need to help her partner, seeing as his was on his feet in a second, armor gradually developing and hugging his body. Sharp, ice-scales layered his shoulders as if knives were draped on them as it continued to point downwards along his arms. A large chest plate grew, made of small, upside-down triangles and two larger ones, and coated wrist-bracers had fashioned on each of his wrists. Soon, sheets of the most durable ice had formed over nearly every inch of the winter spirits' body.

Moraina's protection had frozen over herself as well, curved shoulder plates unfolding down her upper body and twisting feather-like panels swerved down her legs. The torso peice was a diagonal, zig-zaged pattern that traveled smoothly down her back and front. In her left hand, a hardy sword had frozen solid, and several pairs of throwing icicle-knives on her lopsided belt, which wrapped snugly around her waist.

The two were up and stood in a crouched, battle-ready position.

The shadow laughed half-heartedly, teeth reflecting the red glow from a nearby streetlamp.

"You should see yourselves. I can smell your fear, it radiates from you like a pungent odor," the man's face twisted into a delightful scowl.

"Look who's talking," Moraina jabbed back. Moving rapidly she swiped her sword, aiming it at his chest. The target swerved to the side in one sinuous motion, and appeared behind Moraina and Jak.

Jak growled and swung his staff at his head, but it was caught in a firm, white hand that was raised instantly. Jak saw this oppurtunity to pull it back and send a kick towards the enemy's gut. It worked, and the man flew backwards into a red car, letting go of the mahogany weapon. The alarm went off, making a boisterous bleeping sound as its front and back lights flashed. The rival was up again, fists clenched with a forwn on his face.

There was no hint of a smile this time.

"So, you want to play this game? So be it." The foe lunged, hands outstretched like claws, the swirling, shadow-like cloud circling around him.

The winter warriors were ready, armaments raised.


	2. Chapter 2

Jak rolled to the right side, Moraina, the opposite direction. The shadowy foe suddenly developed long, black talons like a raven. He swiped out at Jak like a starved lion, narrowly missing his neck. He responded by whipping around and swinging his staff once again at his head, this time with the other end in hopes of freezing him. He did not succeed, for the shadow man ducked, and tried to grab his shoulders to knock him over. Before he could though, Moraina knocked him onto the ground. She was in the process of pinning his arms on it with her knees, but he evaporated into thin air with an echoing chuckle. Moraina sprang up, looking around with a bewildered look on her face. Jak was looking around too, but their attempts at trying to find some trace of the man were in vain.

Suddenly, a large, black horse with the same shadow-dust the mysterious individual had came galloping down the street towards them with shining black beads for eyes. Jak faced it, ready to strike. Moraina stood up, now behind him in case he missed.

Closer and closer it came, black dust blowing out of its nostrils as its large hooves pounded on the ground. Jack started running to it himself, tired of waiting, staff raised, face hard. As soon as his baton came in contact with the black horse, it shattered in pieces of ice, fog erupting like an explosion as it was pulverized. Jak stood there panting, wooden stick grasped tightly as his friend walked over, sword still in hand.

"Is he gone?" She asked quietly, however, something told her the answer was a 'no'.

"I don't know. All I know is that he definitley has to be like us in a way. No human being we know of can grow massive, black-"

He was cut off abrubtly as a white hand firmly planted itself around his throat.

"Gack!" Was the only thing he could say as he was lifted off of the ground a few inches, staff torn from his hand by another apparition the man must have created. It was holding it in its jaw with sharp teeth seizing it.

Moraina turned around to see her only ally and companion being strangled to death, legs wriggling and body convulsing.

She didn't waste time. Slipping knives out of her belt, she threw them at the enemy choking Jak.

They landed straight into his right shoulder, which made him shout in protest, but his grip on Jak did not loosen. Instead, he used his other hand to yank them out, then throw them to the ground, in which they shattered. The fact that he was not potentially harmed ticked off Moraina, so she yelled in ferocity and charged at him instead, ice weapon thirsting for a kill.

She aimed a blow at his arm, thinking she could cut it off to release the suffocating boy, but the rival had eyes; he could see her coming. In a smooth motion he flung his hostage at her, and they both landed on the ground in a topple.

In between gasps, Jak spulttered, " Sorry...you...okay?"

"Fine, just focus." Jumping to their feet, the two warriors were ready to face their opponent once again, but Jak was missing something.

"I need that back you little mutt," he snarled at the black, animal that had his staff currently locked in its pointed teeth. It growled back, eyes gleaming with hatred.

While he charged towards it, battling for his armament, Moraina was left with the tall, disliked man.

She had had enough of this. Here this idiot came, threatening both of her and Jak's lives without even introducing himself, and he expected them to treat him like their master.

No more of this bullshit.

"Who the hell are you?" Moraina shouted over the still-blaring car alarm. ( No one had shown any sign of hearing it yet. )

The demon chuckled, brushing off his cloak while he stood taller, not bothering to even glance at Jak and his miniature pet battling it out for the staff.

" _That, _is not important, little girl. Tell me, what is your biggest fear?" It was as if he was now interviewing her at a show. The mood had suddenly shifted, and his swirling shadow-dust began to move faster, growing in speed and height. The man began to float just an inch off of the ground.

"An arrogant dumbass who doesn't know how to fight. What's yours?" She answered, poison staining every syllabale. She began stalking forward, the tip of her sword pointing at him. He took no notice.

"You fear so many things, Moraina. You may think you are tough and stronger than anything on Earth but face it dear, you are nothing but a lonely ghost. Both of you are," the foe alleged smoothly, his voice clearer than any crystal.

What. The. Hell.

He just called her 'dear'. That...was beyond unacceptable. That was more than in insult, it was a directly patronizing and unecessary comment.

This was going to get _very _ugly. Fast.

Moraina voice echoed through the entire block as her battle-cry erupted, and she didn't care who did or didn't hear it, all she wanted was this asswipe dead at her feet, his lifeless eyes staring up at her face.

She raised her sword higher, prepared for an attack with momentum, and charged with all her hatred directed in the next few blows she was fully willing to give out.

The weapon striked, but received no satisfying impact, for this enemy had evaporated once again, however, this time, there were no more apparitions from him.

He was gone. Maybe not for good, that was certain, but he had literally dissapeared into thin air. In this case, cold air.

Jak jogged up to Moraina's side, staff now in his hands. He had small cut on his forehead.

"Hey. Where did psycho-dude go?" Was his upcoming question as he and his friend searched the road.

"Coward ran off," she glanced at his forehead, a small drop of silver liquid beginning to fall down his thin eyebrow, " What happened there?" Gesturing at his head, armor melting with his in synchronization.

He brought a pale hand up to his newest, minor wound and swiped at it. His eye twitched in slight uncomfort, and when he pulled his palm back down, there was his own mercury-like blood smeared on his hand.

"Damn. That thing had some claws all right. What about you, did he manage to draw any blood?" His own cut completely forgotten, he now wore a look of concern as his full attention was concentrated on scanning her slight figure for any obvious injuries.

"No." Something was on her mind, but she was not sure of telling Jak was a good idea.

The car alarm had ceased, for someone inside the nearby house must have made it so. The air was now still as the snow had bunged long ago. The road was still iced, but if someone looked close enough, they just might see the faint scratch and scuff marks of a short battle that took place there one night.

* * *

"So who do you think that guy was? Definitely not a human male, probably someone like us ability-wise." Jak asked. We were sitting in a tree that overlooked the town our little battle had taken place, feet dangling off of the highest branch, shoulder to shoulder. I fixed his head while he told me how his dogfight had been with...a dust-like dog. His staff now had a large bite mark in the center of it.

Outstanding.

"I don't know. Couldn't have been around for too long though. Why would he appear to us now? If he was as old as us, don't you think we would have encountered him before now?" Jak pondered aloud, gently bumping my left shoulder with his right in a rhythmic pattern. I let him, and answered dryly, " The world is a big place. Maybe we were never in the same place until now. He seemed like he didn't know us."

"Right because I'm sure someone like him has _never_ lied before." My best ally's tone was dripping with sarcasm.

The moon shone over everything. There wasn't a single icicle or snowflake that wasn't glowing from the moonlight. It was another beautiful byproduct of being a winter goddess.

_So why wasn't it beautiful now? _I thought bitterly.

"Touche. What was that black, swirly stuff that surrounded that creep? Any ideas?" I asked Jak, the question was obviously running around in his head as well.

"Probably just...a magic trick to make him seem more terrifying?" his answer was more of a question. I was still pretty furious at him for calling me 'dear', but what was currently on my mind now were his last words that I was cursed to hear at all.

"_You fear so many things, Moraina. You may think you are tough and stronger than anything on Earth but face it dear, you are nothing but a lonely ghost. Both of you are..." _

He was trying to get to us, I knew it. We didn't fear anything. We were very strong. Yes, maybe not invincible, it was obvious Jak and I could get hurt, but we were sure we couldn't die. We should be at least one hundred and fifty by now, and that was just a minimum guess. Besides, what the hell did mean 'lonely ghost'? Did he think we were completely alone ( having no other friends ), and that just because no one could see us virtually that meant we don't officially exist? We weren't because it was a fact that we are the only ones who could make it snow on a previously sunny day, conjure a blizzard in the middle of Africa, and throw a freaking rainstorm in Egypt in April for Christ's sake. So what was the man really saying?

"Moraina. What are you thinking?" Jak was now hovering in front of her, his small figure sixty feet in the air.

I paused before replying. Did Jak even hear what he said earlier?

" This guy. Let's assume he doesn't know us, hasn't seen or met us ever before. One day, he comes up to us, threatens us, tries to hurt us and succeeds with you, and then claims to know all about us. He says I fear many things, but doesn't say what. He states that he knows we are just two loners wandering the planet. Why? What does he want? What are his motives and how does he plan to achieve the goals at the end of them? And why does he choose to attack _us_? Is this proof that there is no one else out there with special...powers like the three of...us?" The words came out much calmer and smoother than I had expected. Intended, yes, but expected? Not so much.

Jak's steely grey eyes bore into mine for a few seconds before he whispered quietly, " Those are good questions. The only goddamn problem? Who the hell knows?!"He shouted angrily. This was just getting frustrating to the point of wanting to just pretend it never happened. Maybe this guy was just having fun, picking on us for no apparent reason. Maybe we were just over thinking this.

Jak started pacing in midair with his staff floating nearby. I voiced my previous thoughts while he did so, and afterwards, a thick silence lingered while each of us were left with our own thoughts.

Suddenly, I had a thought. To me, it sounded pretty rediculous, but I wasn't the only one thinking here ; Jak might be able to add something to it. Hopefully.

"You asked earlier how long both of us have been around, right? If we were the only ones immortal in the world? I think I might have at least half an answer."


	3. Chapter 3

I looked at her, interest peaking within my bones.

"Do tell."

The familiar sparkle that resulted from an enthusiastic or exciting thought was currently seated in my only companion's grey and blue eyes.

"If we are the ones that bring winter, than think; what other things are brought all around the world?" She asked, looking like she might fall out of the tree from her posture and jiggling feet.

"Um...food?" I answered with a confused shrug of my head. I was standing in the air in front of her, leaning on my staff as if I was on a tall platform raised to the her height.

"No. I mean, the sun does the natural changes, but winter does not come willingly, that's our job. If we stop doing what we do best, the sun takes care of the rest, so what other historical things have kids talked about in all of our history of listening to them talk?" I thought harder, but not for very long.

"Holidays and-"

"Santa. You don't think...?" Moraina questioned with a skeptical but electrifying expression on her pointed and delicate face.

"Oh. No way." A smile spread across my face when it hit me. Every year, while we were distributing the proper storms here and there, we always heard at least a few kids talk about Santa Clause and whatnot. We always paid no attention, too busy with out work to think about such things. Now, it started to make sense; if we were immortal along with that crazy maniac man, than perhaps other so called make-beleive figures existed too? We both had met the so-called 'Easter Bunny', who to me, had way too much ego. We always saw the Sandman doing his work in cities all the time, and I could swear faires swarmed in and out of houses every once in a while, but _Santa Clause?_

This was insane. To think that Moraina and I were the only "spirits" around that couldn't really be seen was...absurdly dissapointing and yet, slightly relieving. I did not know why I was somewhat happy we were not the only ones that had...sight issues.

"This is just...odd. To think about. To...even imagine this-it...wow. Hope we aren't on the naughty list." Moraina sputtered, a lopsided smile so much like mine on her tilted head. She stood up, balancing on the branch she was previously sitting on.

"We probably hold the record; making people's car crash and holding blizzards in ecstatic places most likely wouldn't shoot us to the top of his goody-two-shoes list." I bitterly remarked.

"True." She did not change her expression of observation, as she watched the still town ahead of us. Not a single window was lit, and the place showed no sign of life at all; the inhabitants all sleeping, cars freezing, and lifeless houses were all that remained each night. We considered this area our main home. We often stopped here to rest after sweeping all of other states in a full week. (We tried to not pay any attention to the town of Burgess, not that we cared, but it was of no importance.) I supposed being immortal also meant no immediate rest. In fact, I could not recall a time where we actually tried to sleep for any amount of time.

"Moraina?" Her head sluggishly turned to me, a responsive gleam in her eyes, " Have you ever tried sleeping before?"

"No...why?" Her confundled expression confirmed my earlier thought.

"Just...recalling the past. We have never slept before. You know, like, closing your eyes and-"

"I know what it means, genius." Her grey eye that was angled at me shown slight annoyance as she punched my left arm playfully. Rolling my eyes, we watched the silent town in front of us, then traveled onto the next after several moments.

* * *

_The next few days..._

"What do you think you are doing?!" Norths' voice bellowed through the entire Pole.

He was presently yelling at a pair of yetis, who were in the kitchen, eating a large gingerbread house that was supposed to be put in a container so North could place them in houses.

"How many times-ugerghhh..." The red coat slapped his face with his palm, dragging it down slowly. This year was not going as smoothly as past ones. The yetis have been up to no good as usual, but the elves were acting up again. Their mischief came in waves...which happened to be year-long.

"Stop eating it you nugget! Throw it away and start a new one." North shouted once again in his strong, Russian accent, directing the furry creatures after a lengthy slur of curses. After everything was set back in order, he returned to his office.

It was unlike any other office anyone had ever seen. The windows were facing away from the main desk, which now held towering stacks of colored and white paperwork of sorts and several empty, silver, empty mugs that once held hot chocolate and other steamy beverages. The floor was mixed with dark wood and lush red and velvet carpet. Everything in it held a very welcoming and comforting atmosphere to it, and it looked very inviting. The walls held portraits of children of sorts, and still life images of all things Christmas: ornaments, trees, presents wrapped carefully, and decorated plates of cookies and milk. A few peices of crumpled paper lay about here and there, and trash cans near the desk were half-full, serving their purpose only fifty-percent of the way. There was a large ice sculpture in the far right corner of an unfinished train set. Along the walls closest to the door were shelves full of books, little trinkets and toys, and chunks of carving tools.

North ran a hand through his white beard, sighing for the upteenth time. He needed more time, but then again, he told himself this every year when Christmas inched closer and closer. It was not that he was worried he could not produce enough toys of products, but the fact that it took all of his effort to keep things running smoothly around the large factory/house. If it wasn't the workers ( yetis or other assortments of creatures ) it was the elves, and if it was them then it was a peice of machinery that broke or malfunctioned. Not once had North taken a day off; the children needed him to be up and at 'em twenty-four seven. If he did, the whole workshop would fall apart.

However, once in a while, he was reminded of what kept him going. Seeing the childrens' glowing faces in the morning, the beautiful lights pinned up at different houses, the never-ending plates full of cookies and candy-canes he received for his efforts; the list goes on and on. Only a few times he had caught Pitch screwing with the dreams Sandy produced. Boy, the times he did it was like his bare hands itched to strangle that demon from hell. The worst of it was that he could not completely destroy him, fear would always be living in each child, and because of this, Pitch Black would never dissapear; it was impossible. Luckily, however, he never grew very powerful.

At least not for another few days.

* * *

"You are horrible! I never want to see your face not covered in my snow again!" Moraina launched another pumpkin-sized wad of snow at Jak's face. She had managed to create a massive catapult made entirely of ice, and was now aiming it at Jak.

They were both in a feild made of crisply frozen grass, and each had created a catapult built with immense strength and speed with each launch. They had lighter armor on because if one of the snow canonballs happened to land on you, it would not be comfortable.

Jak dodged the last shot by a heartbeat, diving to his left as the airborn object splattered like a water balloon on the spot his feet were just seconds ago.

"Too slow! Maybe you should try aiming for me, not the-" he was cut off as another one came flying at him. He only had a split second to propel himself backwards quickly, and shout at his ally, " You still missed!"

Instead of taunting further, he ran behind his own catapult for cover, and decided to try something else. Leaving his machinery where it stood, he opened his palm up, and instantly an icicle-like throwing star formed, with a dull tip. Aiming his throw at a distant, shifting individual, he let the weapon fly from his hands.

The star whizzed through the air and hit Moraina's shoulder plate, then bounced off into the snow. She glared up at him with amusement but annoyance once again, and she too, thought of another idea.

Fingers outstretched and raised, Moraina formed a dull, white spear and snatched it from the air all in a second after dodging another oncoming projectile.

Just as she landed, the new star peircing a tree behind her, the spear left her hands as she pitched it towards his movment. Whizzing through the air, it hit him square in the chest, bouncing off and landing in the short, frosty grass.

"Getting creative, are we?" Jak muttered with a smirk.

Suddenly, Jak heard rustling behind him. It was not the wind, for he summoned it when he pleased, and he had not. Perhaps it was Moraina.

"Hey Moraina! Are you calling the wind?" He shouted across the field.

"No. Why? Something wrong?" She could see him across the area, but to see his expression, she would have needed binoculars.

"Come here!" Jak yelled, his back towards her. Concerned, she obeyed but with wariness. Armor all set and weapon in hand, she jogged over to where he was currently standing.

Jak was peering into the forest, eyes searching.

"What's wrong?" The forever-teenager was silenced instantly as another rustle sounded from nearby. It was closer to Jak's side.

"Hear that? It sounds like-" He never got to finish his sentence.

* * *

Heyo! to my Favorites/Followers:

-Katsu Shade Nakamara

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Thank you so much for taking the moment to read my story, I'm sure free time does not come easily or without a price, so knowing you read this within that period of precious time, I give you my personal thanks.


	4. Chapter 4

A large, ugly, brown bear tumbled out of the forest with a strange grumble, and it toppled onto Jak, nearly crushing his small body.

"Jak?!" I shouted, but I didn't have time to investigate, because another one came running out after the first, and he tried to grab me with his huge, fat arms.

Grunting and moving swiftly out of the way, I tried slicing this creature's back with my sword. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jak under the large enemy, trying desperately to squirm out from under the bear.

_Why are these things attacking us? Did someone send them? The creep? _I thought, confused.

I didn't have long to ponder things. Sidestepping a blow from my enemy, I sprinted over to Jak.

"Cant! Ecgk...breathe!" His scattered pleads gave me the strength to use my momentum to shove the great lug off of my friend. As soon as I did so, he stood up, armor plates forming in preparation for a battle.

"What do these guys want?" I asked, keeping my eyes trained on the loud bears.

"How should I know? All I know is that they weigh a _ton_." He was nearly out of breath, but we didn't have time to chat. Or so we thought.

Something was very strange about these creatures; they were no longer coming at us, but communicating with each other in a series of grumbles and grunts. It sounded like gibberish to me, but these organisms understood each other perfectly, their short fingers pointing at us, to them, and back to us again.

This was just pissing me off.

Slamming my sword down point-first, the wind shifted with my command. A massive gust of crisp wind blew the communicators over, knocking them onto their backs. Commencing where sword and grass met, ice snaked it's way under and around the beasts as they wriggled to try and get up.

"What do you want?!" My voice stained with aggravation.

Walking closer to the two beings, I caught a glimpse of something shining in one of their hands. It was...a snowglobe? What the-

As I was peering closer, Jak shouted a warning, but it was a little too late. The one I was looking at suddenly jumped up. Pushing me backwards in a harsh movement, I stumbled backwards. He dropped the glass globe on the ground after stumbling on the ice I caused. What happened next was all a blur.

When it made contact with the ground, a sudden blast of white and a loud bang erupted from whence it shattered. It created a swirling, white and blue hole of strange sparkles and dust. One of the yetis charged at me, but he stumbled as well, slipping on the ice. Jak flew in the air to hastily get away but as I wanted to follow, the bear that dropped the transparent ball grabbed my leg, and pulled me down the portal with him.

* * *

I only had time to see her being sucked into the hole with that ugly thing when I glanced back. One of the brown beings gestured to the hole that she disapeared in. I wanted to help Moraina, but I had no idea where that thing led to. Sucking it up, I zoomed past the fat organism from the air, and into the fissure that swirled like a blizzard.

* * *

Traveling through that thing was like falling through a doorway; I did not feel anything, just a shift in temperature and smell. When I landed, the ugly animal let go of me. It ran away, making stopming sounds and was long gone before I stood up.

Where in the world was this?

When I finally got my bearings, I looked around with wide eyes. Luckily, my armor was still on, because I was eventually knocked down again by a flying Jak.

"Ugk...sorry. Man I'm getting too old for this." Jak joked, promptly getting off of me, staff on the ground nearby.

"Where's number two?" I asked, now on my feet, searching for the other beast.

"I dunno. He wanted me to get in the portal, so he probably did after me. Where are we?" Jak responded after retaining his baton, but as he too took in his surroundings, we looked like clones with our disoriented.

The place was stuffed with shades of red and green. It looked like a factory and currently, we were standing in front of this huge, light-dotted globe thing that was slowly rotating. There was a balcony that we stood on, and as we looked down, series of toys were flying everywhere, and assortments of more bears and little red elf-looking things running around. At our waist-height, there were large, modern - looking controls that had various buttons, handles, and switches.

"Hey, I wonder what might happen if I push all of these buttons at once..." Jak ran his white hand over the console, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

"I wouldn't touch anything right now, it might set off an alarm or something. Do you even know where we are?" I remarked, looking around for an exit. A large fireplace was behind us with a glorious carpet in front of it. It didn't look inviting.

"Um...well, based on the elves and toys...the colors everywhere and the large tapestry of a Santa and swords over that fireplace, " he gestured to the item that hung grandly over the blazing source of warmth, "we are in Santa's workshop. Or...something like that."

Huh. How intriguing. A workshop...Santa's industry was not how I pictured it.

"Why are we here again?" I questioned, walking towards a wooden pillar on my left. Jak followed, and replied, " I don't know. But us being here is no accident. Why go through all of the trouble to get the two of us here?" His voice was quiet and his hand was grazing the wooden support we were presently next to.

Starting from his hand, a swirling, crackling ice pattern increased in size, weaving its way up to the stone top of the support beam.

"Jak Frost!" Someone exclaimed behind us.

When we both whipped around, weapons raised, not only was this Russian-accented man wearing a Santa outfit, but he was flanked by a large, light brown and grey rabbit, a hummingbird-fairy-looking thing with miniature ones next to her, and a small, golden man that Jak and I already knew as the Sandman. The bunny was probably the Easter rabbit. A brief flashback of the occasional green and blue flickers in and out of houses led me to assume that the buzzing bird-lady was the Tooth Fairy, and that left the Red Coat as Santa.

Outstanding.

"Who are you?" Jak asked, but we both knew the answer.

"I am North, dis is Sandy," he gestured to the short man, "Bunnymund," the fuzzy hairball, "and Tooth." she was staring at Jak and his armor like a new toy.

I guess 'North' made sense, it was the North Pole after all.

"We 'ave been waiting for you. Vat took so long?" At his last question, he turned to the bears next to Bunnymund, who was took sudden interest in the ceiling.

"Eh, no matter. Welcome to ze North Pole!" His loud voice echoed throughout the factory, and he walked to the fireplace, past us. Jak glanced at me, confused and a look of skepticism crossed his steely, grey eyes.

"Come closer so ve can discuss why you are both here." I lowered my sword and narrowed my eyes as it melted into light shards of ice. Our protection, however, did not phase as we cautiously stepped forward.

Dealing with strangers was not a forte with us. We trusted no one, partly because there was no one _to_ trust, being invisible to everyone on Earth. The only things that appeared to see us were the bears, these other historical figures, and the creep we met a while back. So far, none of these people or beings were on our 'allies' list. Just one was settled comfortably on the hit list though.

"Vy are you so wary of us? We didn't bring you here to assassinate you, ve brought you here to talk to you." North inquired, eyebrows furrowed.

"After over one-hundred years? Why the sudden change of heart?" I retorted.

"You send your goons to kidnap us and throw us through a magic portal. Doesn't sound like a welcoming gesture to me." Jak added, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

North looked puzzled, but then he turned once again to the creature and shouted gibberish, then ordered him off. It scurried away afterwards, and North rolled his eyes as he returned to the discussion.

"I apologize, I told the yetis to being me you two, but they apparently took zat az a 'kidnap and toss' type of thing. I am sorry." North said, outstretching his hands.

Jak looked at me with uncertainty once more, grip tightening on his staff.

"So what do you want from us?" His question confirmed my thoughts.

"Jak, you and Moraina have been chosen by the Man in the Moon to become Guardians!" The Tooth fairy exclaimed, suddenly far too close to Jak's and mine's face.

My eyes widened and so did my allies'. The Man actually talks to these guys? Why not us?! This wasn't right.

"He says things to you? How often does he do that?" I exclaimed almost angrily, head whipping back and forth from each Guardian.

"Why does that even matter? You're Guardians now. Shouldn't you be happy? You will finally be noticed." Bunnymund did not sound happy when he said this. He sounded very displeased, as if he was disapointed his new "buddies" weren't cool enough.

I stepped closer to the rabbit, eyes hard.

"We. Are. Not. _Guardians_." I looked at everyone, still in the same place, " We don't want to be quacking around the world like a bunch of boring ducks 'just doing their job' like you guys do. We're the ones that bring joy to kids, not eggs and metal." I alleged roughly, working my way back to Jak.

"Pfft, like _you _would know _anything _about that, mate. You don't even exist to anyone." The rabbit's words were sharp and pointed, and they were jabbing at me. I could tell Jak wasn't too pleased either.

"Enough, Bunny. The fact is that the Moon said that you both were to be the new guardians." Tooth said, feathers buzzing as she rapidly zigged back and forth.

I wanted to pause time and think about this with Jak. Here we were, talking to Santa Clause, the Sandman, the Easter Bunny, and a Tooth fairy. They wanted us to join their little band of heroes, save the world together, and become best-buddies. Jak didn't like the idea, and neither did I. But...all the years of not being seen was really putting dents in our motivations, and becoming a Guardian may or may not change that. Additionally, what the heck would we do to save kids? We weren't special; all we could to was make ice and snow appear with an occasional gust of chilly wind. We were the source of car wrecks, avalanches, accidents of all sorts, child suffering, and skyrocketing heat bills. Nothing more.

So why the sudden option of another path? We already knew why we existed: to bring winter to the world so Spring would be in balance. Was there something else we were meant for?

Sandy stepped forward, an image of a card that said 'memory' on it appeared above his keen hair.

"Do you two remember anything before you vere turned to spirits?" North inquired, head tilted.

"What are talking about? We weren't anybody before this." Jak countered, confusion clouding his vision as he glanced again at me.

"Of course you were! Everyone has a childhood, even you. You...don't remember?" The Tooth hummingbird had a sad and confundled look in her green eyes.

"NO! Does it look we do?" Jak snapped.

Through our entire "life", we never officially realized we had a life outside and before the one we were currently in. The Man in the Moon only told us our names a very long time ago. The only thing we can remember was the breath-taking first time we recognized our abilities, turning trees white and freezing all of the lakes all while soaring through the night air. It wasn't until later that we found we were a phantom to everyone; kids, animals, and adults did not see us, hear, or feel us. Our point came with a price; we were here to give snow and frost on vehicles to every single piece of land at least once a year, and it was the only responsibility we had. There were no deadlines, rules, enemies ( until a few days ago ), or complex problems to deal with, but no one would stop and recognize our work, or give us credit. Sure we developed ways of fighting in over the years in case it was needed, and certain weapons of destruction were made from time to time for fun ( like my sword ), but that was just to pass time when we sparred. Bunny was right; no one believed in us.

All of the bewildered figures were looking at us as if we were not what they expected. I'm sure we weren't. They stood as a group, a unified plethora of allies and friends. We were just two lonely, hard warriors of winter that no one knew existed. Literally.

"We have summoned you here because a threat has arisen, and we cannot defeat it without you. Do you see zis globe?" North walked calmly past us, followed by the other individuals, and pointed to the rotating structure.

"Each von of those lights is a child. A child zat beleives in us. As long as zey believe in us, we shall protect them."

"From what?"

"From Pitch. Pitch Black, otherwise known as ze boogeyman, is a powerful metaphor of fear and nightmares. In the Dark Ages, he ruled because everyone was afraid of him in the horrible, unfulfilled life they had. Zat is why I was created, to balance out ze dark with ze light. My joy brought happiness back again, and kids began to forget the hurtful , negative, and unspirited shadows of him. He became transparent and nearly forgotten." The red coat narrarated.

"Nearly?" Inquired my only companion.

" Well there is always fear in the world; each child has his or her own personal demons, but as long as they also believe in us Guardians, than it becomes a delicate balance of fear and hope." North continued, hands in the shape of a scale.

This was crazy. But this Pitch Black sounded like the shadow we met a few days ago.

"What does Pitch look like?" I questioned, hiding our experience, making it sound like a common question. I didn't want them to know we encountered him; they might suspect we were related...or how his last question was still munching the back of my mind.

"_You fear so many things, Moraina. You may think you are tough and stronger than anything on Earth, but face it dear, you are nothing but a lonely ghost. Both of you are..."_

"Like this." That smooth, deep, silky voice was all too familiar.

* * *

Thanks to my Followers:

* Evadeen  
* KayNightshade  
* Muffy the Dough Slayer  
* Peanut Butter Rules  
* blackdisk  
* thunder angel13


	5. Chapter 5

"You've got to be kidding me." Moraina muttered under her breath heatedly, staring up at the globe. The lights that were scattered over the sphere began to flicker as a black, moving dust shifted in a way that looked like it was eating it whole, shrouding the world.

A bone-chilling laugh bounced off of the walls within the headquarters, and a shadow rose up from the ground like the living dead, and stilled on the top of the orb like a king. His dust ceased its work of munching on the structure, and when he snapped his fingers, every last bit of the sand disappeared as if it had just instantaneously combust into thin air. When it had gone, there were not as many lights shining on the globe as before.

"My my, look at this sad-looking bunch of misfits. Apparently anyone can become a guardian these days. Mind if I join?" Pitch's taunts snaked their way into everyone's brains like a virus.

"Get out of here Pitch! No one is afraid of you!" The Easter rabbit shouted, a sleek, mohagany boomerang in his hands.

"That is what many of you pathetic excuse for protectors may think, but there is at least one among you who says differently; I can taste it." Pitch snarled, white teeth glowing from no particular light source.

"I have had enough of this," Bunnymund, with a grunt, aimed his weapons at the foe's head. The demon had only managed to barely avoid the blow, ducking hastily under it. As it came back to Bunnymund, North joined and threw one of his swords. It went through the standing figure, but only because he had evaporated once again, leaving no trace of ever appearing.

Moraina and Jak had simply stood and observed, puzzled as to why this man was stalking everyone, not just her and Jak.

"No one here is scared of him. Maybe a few yetis or elves, but he is just trying to scare us." Tooth pondered aloud, and turned to North for assurance.

The jovial figure, however, was too busy staring at Moraina and Jak. They had come closer together, whispering briskly.

"What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?! This shouldn't be happening Jak!" Moraina itemized with concern and wariness.

"Well maybe if we just try and work with these guys then we might be able to do something other than just bring the season of cold and ice. Don't you think this might be a little enlightening or something? How bad can it be?" Jak argued lightly. Winning a battle against a very old friend is challenging.

"Perhaps, but this is the sort of thing where as soon as we step into this, we won't be able to get back out. I want more to living and breathing than what we do now, yes, but that doesn't mean we have to throw ourselves into danger to do that."

"Maybe it does. Our whole so-called second life, we have never encountered or met a single threat. The chance to give out a few punches and kicks here and there would be a great stress reliever for you." Jak countered, teasing his best friend.

Slugging him on the upper arm, she then answered, "That may be true, but I don't like this. I don't trust them. How does the fairy know about our pasts?"

"I don't know."

"Well we have to find out." Moraina stated firmly. She wanted to know just as badly as Jack did.

"Fine, but if you die on me, then there won't be a single inch of land that isn't sentenced to a decade of snow and death." Jak was not kidding as a look of seriousness combined with a joking tone nearly made him sound sarcastic.

"Ahem!" North coughed, focusing on the two bickering spirits.

"Do either of you even know why you don't remember who you were? Or...are?" The Tooth fairy asked, a look of curiosity in her eyes again as she whizzed over to our faces.

That question again; it was like a haunting apparition in the back of the two winter warrior's head that never went away.

"No. We aren't pals with the Moon, so we don't get the juicy gossip you guys always share." Jak retorted, twirling around his staff.

"We aren't either. In fact, the Man in the Moon rarely talks to us, only in a time of need does he say a sentence or two." Bunny stated as if it was something everyone knew; he was currently painting an egg with a thin, petite brush.

"In any case, maybe vat you two need right now is to find your memories of your past _before _the past." North concluded, sheathing his sword with a 'shank' sound.

"Find our memories?"

"Yes. That's why I collect teeth. Each one holds memories of childhood, an event, or an important thought that changes the child's life. When they need reminding of what they stand for, that's where we step in, we give them that hint." Tooth stated softly, hovering in front of the two's faces. Each exchanged looks, and Sandy stepped forward.

A picture of everyone in the room swirled in front of them, then a hammer appeared out of the figures, and began smashing what looked like a Pitch Black on a horse. Sandy used his hands to help explain, and then gave Jak and Moraina an expectant look of hope; he wanted them to join forces to defeat Pitch.

Moraina was beyond confused. Not because of the situation, but her inner wall of trust was not budging. She did not trust anyone but Jak; who's to say these icons of childhood aren't on Pitch's side, and this is all just a ploy to make winter go away? As stupid as it sounds, the idea of a talking, know-it-all rabbit wasn't any worse. People died every year because of the ice that Jak spread; people's children fell and hurt themselves severely each moment around the world when the ice storms hit, and Moraina's frost kissed the sidewalk when kids rode their bikes. They weren't proud of it, but there were some things out of the warrior's control; there was no way to make the harsh cold take over without a few consequences here and there. The spirits tended not to think of this, though.

Why should they? The spirits were all fun and games, letting kids go out and enjoy the day in the white fluff and forget their late math homework and their personal bullies; it was a time for spreading cheer, wasn't it?

But this was asking for a lot of commitment that they surely didn't want. They would be capable, but did not want to have such responsibility of many lives they might end up killing later on.

Moraina and Jak each had a wall. On one side of it, there lay their bodies, powers, and mouths. But on one side, there were feelings and memories, gained and lost. That wall held back the trust ( besides with each other ) reliance, and fear. It forced back everything that would make them vulnerable and weak, like fear.

But it did not do a good job of pushing anger or frustration away.

* * *

Outside, in one of North's window, a crack was beginning to form, and in a flash, it was bigger and bigger as the weather outside increasingly became frighteningly strong. This was not mother natures' doing though.

* * *

Moraina's fists were balled up, and she was struggling to not fly away. She had been kidnapped, pulled, thrown, mocked, accused, and toyed with, and the goddess of storms was _not _pleased at all. She wanted her memories back and all of this beating around the bush was not her idea of a persuasive way of trying to get them to join their league of extra-ordinaries.

Jak was upset as well, he too trying not to have an outburst. However, he often had it much more under control than his ally.

After a short growl, "Give us our memories, and we might consider this offer," was her terse statement.

"We can't just give you the teeth, Moraina. It isn't that simple." Tooth sadly answered, now in front of her.

"And how is it _not simple ?" _Her voice becoming more agitated by the second. Jak was gently holding her upper arm, trying to remind her of what could happen if she were to lose it.

"Because as a guardian-"

"You're not ready." Bunny finished, interupting the hummingbird-like fairy.

"What?!"

"You. Aren't. Ready. If you had your memories right in front of you in a box, would you truly open it as fast as you can fly? Would you _want _to see them at all?" His eyes probed them both as he hopped forward, ears erect on his head like cornstalk, twtching in annoyance and disbelief.

"Of course. You don't know what it's like, not knowing who you were; it makes it impossible to figure out why you are even here in the first place. But you wouldn't know that, would you? You're just a go-happy rabbit who thinks he has the answers to everything, and can simply march in a room and claim yourself king!" Moraina shouted, stepping up to meet his eye level.

The window shattered, and soon, a cold blizzard flew in like a swarming army of bees and dust. It blew out the fire, and the yetis tried to cover the hole up. It was in vain though, for they fell over at the strength at the gust. North whipped around and stared at it in horror, unsure of what to do. The Tooth Fairy screamed and fell over the edge of the railing in front of the globe, and Bunny ran after her, anger still in his eyes, but concern for his friend. Sandy was holding onto the wooden support where they all met a while ago.

Everything was flying away from the window, as if some invisible force was hurling everything everywhere in anger. Moraina shut her eyes, and opened them again, Jak in front of her trying to mend the broken window.

"Moraina! Make it stop! This is you, not me!" Jak bellowed over the storm. The hole was quickly growing, making the wood crack and larger ones appearing, rooting from the window. Other transparents were beginning to falter as well.

"Urggh..." Moraina groaned, clenching her fists, attempting to swallow her own emotions. This has not happened in a long time, so she was out of practice. Greatly.

"Moraina! You're going to destroy the workshop! Moraina!?" Jak's ice walls weren't blocking the wind. Sandy was still holding on, and his golden figure was shrinking. The others were nowhere to be seen, except North, who had taken refuge in the corner of the connecting hallway that fed into the fireplace area where the two winter spirits were shouting.

Moraina could swear she heard a man's laugh somewhere, coming from the wind.

Her anger struggled to come up again, knowing who's it was.

She focused hard, standing there like a statue. She held her breath and clenched her teeth, blocking out the noise.

The world froze. Everything was still, quiet as a mouse and silence hanging heavily in the air as she had frozen herself mentally for a few seconds.

The blizzard stopped, and Sandy fell to the ground, exhausted and North ran to help him. Bunny hopped up from the bottom of the workshop, Tooth behind him.

Moraina stared in blank surprise at what she had done. Snow that scattered the carpet was melting, leaving its' mark of her outburst quickly on the luscious fabric, and the fire was snuffed out. The yetis were nowhere to be seen, were too the elves. The true guardians were all standing once again by the once-lit fire, slight anger playing on their faces. Tooth just looked very shocked, but Bunnymund was clearly trying not to kill the two teenagers.

He was trying very hard.

"You don't belong here. You aren't a guardian; look at what you did. You will never be a guardian." He snarled, furry fists shaking with fury.

Jak stalked over to Moraina, concern in his icy grey eyes.

"I think we should go." He whispered gently.

With that, he flew out quickly, glanced at the Santa and everyone else. However, he wasn't sure if he was doing so out of frustration and anger, or giving them a sign that he would consider this, if not Moraina as she trailed quickly behind.

* * *

"Did you see that?" Tooth breathed, examining the window with a graze of her delicate hand.

The two troubled immortals were gone, and they left puzzled guardian in their dust, or...snow.

"Who didn't? They nearly destroyed your home, North. Aren't you upset? At all?" Bunnymund exclaimed, pointing at where they were not ten seconds ago.

"I am concerned zat they are very misunderstood and confused, but no. I am not." He concluded, looking around his base.

Even Sandman was alarmed at such an explosion of viciousness. A moon and snowflake appeared over his head, combined with a confused look on his face.

"I don't know, Sandy. Manny said that they were the new, chosen guardians to defend the children from Pitch. We must abide by his command."

"But those two, selfish, brats can't possibly be the-" Bunny started angrily. He was furious.

"Did you not start the storm that nearly took a wall off of the workshop? You are the one who spoke, _Bunny_." The fairy declared, pushing herself into his face, nose-to-nose.

"Stop fighting, please. Didn't any of you notice-"

"The wonder in it? Oh please, don't tell me you saw anything _wonderful _in that." Bunnymund's dry and sarcastic remark was followed by his hopping towards the fire to get it started again, his head poking into the embrace of it.

"Well, I won't say it wasn't a new experience, but what I was more amazed with was how Moraina managed to break my windows."

"Well it's not that hard, mate. Windows are-"

"Hey, deez are not dat kind of window. How long do you think I have lived here? When I built this several hundred years ago, I was prepared for the hardiest storm, after all, this is the North Pole." He moved over to Bunny, pulling a wooden lever on the wall by the fire, and it sprouted up once again, making Bunny jump back in fright of being burned to death.

North ignored this and continued, "I have crashed the sleigh into this place, not a scratch. I have had storms on all levels hit dis this sanctua and not a single sign of fault. I have thrown elves into them and no matter of damage has been shown. Dis glass is unbreakable, unpenetrable...so how is it that a single girl and boy could possible break it, let alone cause it to shatter like a cup along with crumbling my walls?" North turned to Sandy, who was standing next to Bunny.

A lightning bolt shown over his hair, and a look of enlightenment was plastered on his small face.

"Exactly. Power. Good job Sandman."

Tooth turned to the three bickering men from where the current slight breeze from the world was making her feathers rustle softly. Suddenly, it hit her.

"If one of them did that to my window unvoluntarily, and weren't even trying, think how much power the have when _both _of them have the proper motivation to defeat-"

"Pitch." Bunnymund cut him off, and his eyes widened with realization: these two were chosen not because of their power, but because together, with the right push, they would defeat Pitch easily. In a way, they were stronger than all of the guardians put together.

At least they hoped it would be with ease.

* * *

Thank you to my everlasting Followers:

Evadeen

InvisibleNinja333

KayNightshade

Muffy the Dough Slayer

Peanut Butter Rules

StarlitWave10

black disk

Ic251

Phoenixdragon78

Thunder angel13


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Merry belated Christmas! Yes, I know this took a while to update. I feel as though it needs more humor, so for those of you who are thinking that this is quite bland; do not turn your nose up, hold on a while longer. Furthermore, I just viewed 'Les Miserables', and I cannot say I am impressed; I am astounded at the music, singing, and acting from each and every one of them. I implore any of you to at least see the trailer. Thank you.

* * *

I couldn't believe what I had just done. Not only did I blast a hole in Santa's workshop, but I nearly injured everyone in the room, including Jak. He couldn't be affected by it, but my actions should have been controlled.

Landing near a tree lightly, I snarled at myself in frustration. How is it that one bunny could make me so pissed that I could literally bring down the building? I wasn't surprised, for the last time I was that angry, I nearly took down an entire town, but that didn't matter now.

"Moraina? Are you okay?" Jak asked cautiously, staff supporting him as he leaned heavily on it, his hands and arms wrapped around the twisting wood. I turned around, attempting to hide my emotions.

* * *

She looked at me, and I could tell she was trying to hide everything that just happened behind her wall. I could easily see through it though, and witness the anger at herself, Bunny, and confusion as to everything that was happening to us. First Pitch, now these so-called Guardians. What was next? Our memories? Or another historical figure-related crisis?

* * *

He probably could have seen right through me with his penetrating gaze. He had the steely grey eyes, I had one blue and one grey eye, the right grey, the left blue. Only if you were as close as Jak could you see the difference in color. My black hair was messy; pulling it out of the bun it was in, I fashioned it into a newer one that was tighter, using ice to bind it. Exhaling profoundly, I answered Jak's previous question.

"Yes. I'm fine. You?"

"Well, it's not every day you get to meet the red coat and chatty hummingbird." He replied bluntly, but with a teasing intent. He moved closer to me, closing the space between us quickly, staff now gripped in his left hand.

"I know something's bothering you. And it's bothering me too..." Jak whispered, pushing an ebony strand of hair out of my troubled face. I lifted my head up towards his gaze piercing mine like daggers, and I did not find it hard to look back.

"It's Pitch and the whole 'join us' concept. I understand what they want us to do, and I understand what Pitch is and his history, but there are too many holes in this tale. What are Pitch's motvations, his allies, and plans for everyone? How is it that he can affect the children with nightmares alone, and why does he hate the Guardians so much? What did we ever to do him? More importantly, can we trust them? What if this is all just a game to get us to fall? What if they are all working together to separate us?" I spilled, looking into the distance now, watching the sun go down. It was getting later and later. We were still in the North Pole, but it was like a snow desert with small patches of trees.

"I was thinking the same thing. But why go through all of that effort in pretending to be allies when they all could have just bombarded us when we were confused when we arrived through the portal? If they wanted to separate us, they probably would have made two different traveling fissures." Jak indicated firmly.

Before continuing, there was a brief silence that Jak broke quickly.

"I think...we should join them."

I whisked my head towards him in alarm. "Th-"

"I know you don't like it. You don't trust them, and I understand completely; I'm the only one who would. But...think. When have we ever had _real_ allies before? A _real_ fight? A _real_ chance to be seen for once? And how many times have we asked ourselves about our past before we were ghosts? A lot. Maybe doing this will gain them back for good, then we can continue on with our lives. You and I are the strongest beings out here, Moraina, so what is there to fear?" Jak wasn't being arrogant as he smiled at his last words, forming a small pile of snowflakes in his hand.

"Maybe we can finally be something more than harbingers of winter. Maybe...we can find another point to us, right?" Jak inquired at me, looking at me in the eyes again.

"Perhaps. But..." She had a brief present nightmare of seeing Jak dead...his silver blood drooling from his mouth and his head sliced open with a burned staff.

"So you want to join them, great. What about the dangers? Pitch is-"

"Nothing more than the boogeyman. What could he possibly do?" Jak questioned again, eyes rolling as he blew the flakes from his hand and over my head. They fell, leaving white dots on my ebony hair, and I smiled, watching the sky after turning away from him.

The sky was fading into a darker blue every minute, and we watched it change, a slow slideshow of peaceful darkness enveloping the Pole.

"When did you want to announce such a thing to these 'guardians'?" I tested. I had just blown a hole in their wall; somehow I didn't think we were going to welcomed back too soon.

"Tomorrow before the sun goes down." My partner's reply was as if he had been holding it in for a while now.

Boy was this going to be a hoot.

* * *

"We need them to join us." Tooth stressed, her wings vibrating as she zoomed around the embrace of the room, picking up glass and splinters of wood.

"Easier said than done. Not ten minutes ago did they want to kill us." Bunny retorted with pure bile, hurling a piece of broken wood into the fire.

"Vell, 'twas not there fault." North hinted at Bunnymund setting them off as he used a block of thick ice to cover the window temporarily.

"Hey, I was just speaking the truth, mate. You all know it."

Sandy wore a small frown, and an animation of a bomb exploding danced above his petite figure.

"Sandy is right Bunnymund, you can be so blunt sometimes. They're just kids." Tooth's delicate voice echoed in Bunny's mind.

"Wha-No! Pfft, that...-it-no. Those two mongrels may not have been around as long as us, but they are _not just kids_." The Easter icon hopped profusely around the room, gathering pieces of small, broken items up into a pile.

"Yes, they are by definition They have spent their whole lives being an outcast and not knowing where or why they were created. They don't even know their past before...er, their past." North stated, arms bulging as he pushed the ice block in front of the window. Seeing his slight struggle, Tooth and Sandy helped him as Bunny continued his hopping around the workshop, and he shouted, "That may be North, but that doesn't give them an excuse to be so arrogant and hostile towards us!"

"Maybe it does. Do you know what that's like?" Tooth pushed into his face as he came to a halt in the bouncing near his tall pile of junk.

"No, but-"

"Then you don't know how it feels Bunny. Not everyone understands why they exist in the world."

"Then why don't you just show them their bloody teeth? That will make everything better." The Easter prodigy was heating up.

"Because, you said it yourself. They aren't ready and as a guardian, doing so when they don't necessarily need them might be hazardous."

"Erghhh...fine. Whatever. Hope you all enjoy yourselves. I have to get back to my warren, I'm dealing with perishables. " The creatures' slur of curses could be heard from a mile away.

"When will he ever calm down for a few hundred years?" Tooth sighed, now floating near Sandy, who was ready to spread he dreams of children in his hot air balloon.

North shrugged halfheartedly and left for his office as Tooth and the Sandman left.

The fireplace crackled.

* * *

Each of the guardians spent the rest of the night doing their daily jobs; organizing the toys, giving rewards for teeth, distributing the equal amount of dreams, and decorating eggs was an innocent routine. But preparing a strong nightmaren army was not. Pitch was getting ready for a small attack; his lions and wolves were ready this time, aggression being in the claws and snapping teeth this time, not in gallops and neighs.

Maybe this time, he would finally get rid of the guardians and let their pathetic figures dissolve into nothing but dusty fear. His fear. Revenge would taste so sweet.

* * *

_ The afternoon of the next day..._

"So you want us to just waltz in there and declare that we want to join their band of freaks and go-happy travelers?"

"Yes. Try not to kill everyone this time please."

"I can't make any promises though; if that bunny is there, he'll have a fried tail in the blink of an eye of he dares-"

"Okay, okay let's just at least try to tell them without any interuptions. Can you at least handle _that_?"

"Yes! Now shut up and open the door." Moraina rolled her eyes and gestured to the double, wooden swinging egresses. The yetis must have been ordered somewhere else; the usual security wasn't present.

The entrances swung wide with a creak, and they were greeted with a strong scent of gingerbread, cinnamon and...smoke? Elves and several yeti's took no notice of the the two winter harbingers, seeing as they were too busy scurrying around and gurgling in nonsense tones.

"Okaaaay...where to now, genius?" Moraina inquired, armor starting to develop on her broad shoulders. It was instinct.

"Hey, we're here to negotiate and chat with friendly intentions. Armor away."

"Fine." Grumbling, but with ease, Moraina let the ice fade away onto the ground as it dissolved, no sign of it ever appearing in the first place.

"Good. Now, let's head up-"

Jak was cut off from a loud crash and bang somewhere above him. A flying turtle made out of glass came tumbling to the ground in front of them, the splinters shattering at their feet as the two's arms were raised up in defense. The glass burned, the head of the turtle was last, its eyes sad and a frown plastered in its face.

"Friendly intentions? Where the hell-" Moraina spat, but was cut off as well because a flaming jellyfish made out of paper came flying off of the railing where the Santa had met the winter spirits before. It landed lightly, but was quickly spreading orange, raging flames around the toys and workshop.

Acting on pure reaction, Moraina flew over to the red heat, and with a wave of her arm, she put it out like a fire extinguisher; the ice and cold fog emitting from her shrunk the flames to nothing but black ash and smears.

Jak, who quickly followed her asked loudly over more deafening clatters, "What's going on?"

"How should I know?" Moraina and Jak both sailed higher into the air, heading to the area where the hole was by the fireplace and in front of the consoles and globe.

"Shit." Jak echoed Moraina's slight gasp and stiffened shoulders as their armor formed once again. This was not what they had planned for at all.

Pitch was currently instructing his black demons to tear the place apart. Every tiger and creature he had summoned was throwing toys into the fire, then yanking them out and throwing them out into the base of the workshop. One of the lion apparitions was holding Bunnymund down, a claw at his throat and a pointed tail at his face. He was helpless.

But he wasn't the only one; Tooth was knocked out in the corner behind Pitch, and the Sandman was trapped inside of a black cage, ebony strands of sand encircling his tiny body and squeezing him to death. North was being strangled by Pitch's tiger-creatures, the tail coiled firmly around his throat as he was being held high into the air; the apparition was clinging to the wall at a dangerous height, its talons digging into the wood like a toothpick into jello.

"Well _this_ is a surprise. A delightful one no doubt. Say hello to your fellow allies." The boogeyman snarled, gesturing to the defeated icons. The animal continued making flame-lit projectiles fly everywhere.

"_You_. You were-"

"Yes, you met me on the street that night in Burgess; I remember. Still think you aren't afraid of me?"

"I _know_ I'm not afraid of you. Who _would_ be anyways?" Moraina growled, stopping a blazing, toy robot from hitting her face with her sword.

"We'll see about that." The cloaked individual strode toward them slowly. Jak took a step back, and aimed his staff at him defensively. Moraina did not move, however.

He stopped not few yards in front he them. "You reek of fear; it fills my nostrils with its' sweet scent. Your friends do as well; however, they might not last long enough to see anything other than your dead bodies." He gestured to the tied, struggling, or unconscious figures behind him.

"They aren't our friends and we are not afraid of you, Pitch. You're just another spirit looking for power in the wrong places. Let these guys go." Jak spat, keeping his gaze on the dangerously sleek man.

"So you _do_ care for them...what if I..." Pitch twitched his thin eyebrow and a stark choking sound came from Bunnymund as a small drop of blood fell to the floor from his throat.

This was a test. Pitch knew Moraina and Jak had absolutely no love for the Easter Bunny, and if they let him die, it would prove they weren't allies at all, and they were willing to let him and the rest of the protectors die, along with the spirit of children. If Jak or Moraina showed any sign of concern for him, he would attack or strike a bargain neither of them could get out of as soon as he said it.

So the only option was to attack him first.


	7. Chapter 7

Before Pitch could take another breath, Moraina lunged at him, sword raised, snarl ripping across her face.

Pitch, who was completely astounded at the surprise attack, but not unprepared ducked instinctively, and commanded his creatures to attack Moraina and Jak. Jak took this as a sign to start fighting, and he flew into the air towards North, face hard. The tiger growled, gripping the red coats' throat tightly, threatening to squeeze him to death. Norths' blue eyes began to close as his arms went limp when Jak tried to get closer.

A white knife implanted the eye of the apparition, and it let go of him. Jak caught the Santa and laid him down on the ground by Sandman, who looked at the winter teenager for help.

Knowing where the weapon out or nowhere came from, Jak smiled at Moraina, who was sending several harsh strikes towards the Boogeyman with furious concentration and distaste. She glanced at him rapidly, confirming her aim and success in squeezing in the blow to the shadow that once held the Santa hostage.

She was dancing around Pitch like a graceful angel of storms and ferocity.

Jak didn't waste time in trying to get to the Sandman; the black binds would bite at his arms and hands like venomous snakes hidden within the ropes. Because they did not seem to be killing him, Jak moved over to the struggling and writhing Bunny under the ebony creature, who was going to injure him greatly if he didn't-

Slam! Jak went flying into the wall in between the window and the fireplace, Moraina and her sword on top of him.

"Sorry. Blame the bastard." Her terse apology was forgotten as fast as it all happened; the brutal female was on her feet as she threw an array of sharp knives and formed axes at the demon of hell and nightmarens.

She wanted his head.

* * *

I heard Jak scramble behind me, and while he was going to deal with that Easter vermin, I was going to take out the Boogeyman.

I wouldn't not say it wasn't currently a challenge; the guy was all over the place and knew the strength of his powers well; walls that blocked my attack and weapons of his own were not helping me reach my goal.

I began to feel the force of a thousand winds within me, and as desperately as I wanted to use it, I knew it would bring down the building.

Rolling to my left out of another thrown hammer, I jerked my hands up in fluid motions.

Ice stalagmites shot up from the wood floor and made a ragged cage around the shadow, and as fast as I could blink, I sent a thousand shards of icicles pointed straight at him before he could vanish.

They fled at him, but pierced nothing. Unfortunately.

When I inspected closer, something shifted in the corner of my eye. Whipping around to kill it, I was met with a man holding Jak in the air by his throat, black straps tied around his wrists, mouth, and ankles.

Pitch was smiling as he held up my only companion.

"You two are far too close; you are afraid of sentiments, so if I thrust upon you the most powerful emotion in life, I wonder how that would pan out?" Pitch gripped Jak's armor tighter, cracking the plates as Jak's gasps and struggles were becoming more aggressive by the second.

"That's where your fault lies, Pitch. I'm not living." With light speed, I twitched my finger and the opposite window broke, the one he was closest to.

And standing in front of.

He flew forwards, over my head as he let go of Jak, dropping him to the ground as the binds disappeared.

His shouts of surprise and frusteration were earsplitting. When I saw the window, I quickly forced my self to calm down, repairing the broken glass with thick ice in its place. Bunnymund was bleeding and panting in front of the dangerously roaring fireplace while Jak was standing again, staff grasped tighter than ever as he strode towards me, fury plastered onto his pale face.

"Where did that son-of-a"

"He fled. Like a coward would." I answered before he could finish his sentence. Growling and turning to witness the damage done to not only the room, but the protectors.

The Tooth fairy was still unconscious, the rabbit wounded an broken, North on his back, eyes shut but chest rising steadily, and Sandman stepping out of a silky black sand square; the remains of the cage creating a faint trace of its presence.

"I think you are going to have to wait on declaring your alliance with them." I stated bluntly.

"I think you're right." Jak wiped his forehead in stress and exhaled.

* * *

After the mess had been cleaned up, the ashes, wood splinters, melted and broken toys, dried blood spots on the carpet and mahogany floor.

The guardians were either holding an ice pack to their head or looking glum as they leaned of various parts of the workshop.

"So would someone explan to us what that was all about?" Jak esclaimed, trying to get past everyone's fuzz from their injuries.

North looked up from staring at his boots as he sighed, rubbing his neck.

"Pitch decided to attack us when you left and we had all gotten back from the morning duties or a guardian. Tooth was collecting her teeth, Bunnymund was preparing for Easter, Sandy was aiding the dreams, and I was making sure my factory was running smoothly. When you came in, Pitch had us in his wretched grasp." North admitted, his eyes shone with dark guilt; Pith had prooved he could take the protectors once, who was to say he could not do it again?

"Your welcome." Moraina said dryly, glancing at each of the icons, then at Jak, who blinked.

"Yes, thank you. But what were you doing here in the first place?" The Tooth Fairy asked, hovering lightly near the fireplace; it was obvious she was trying hard to simply stay in the air.

"You can stand you know, why fly when you are injured?" Jak asked, looking at the fairy's clenched face and stiff posture.

She dropped the ground instantly, but not harshly. The fairy gave an inquiring look before shrugging, and gesturing for the two to continue.

With a curt nod of her head, Jak declared firmly, "We were going to inform you that we would like to join you, but only if in the end, we receive our memories back." His words caught all of the guardians attention if they weren't listening already. Sandman jumped up and down, clapping his hands in delight as North smiled. But it the almost-sad Easter prodigy rolled his eyes ( which Moraina hoped would give him a headache ) but smirked. The Tooth Fairy smiled warmly, assuming this was a truce now.

"Agreed."

* * *

Yes, it is short, but for the next one, I know I will have a hard time finding a proper place to stop the action, so I know it will be longer. Thank you for your patience.


	8. Chapter 8

Moraina and Jak stood in front of the globe, assessing the lights flickering on and off. It was just North who accompanied them; the other icons of childhood were busy back in their homes preparing for their holidays. North explained the threat Pitch had posed and ideas on how he could be stopped as well as the generic plan: stop the Boogeyman, once and for all, not matter what it takes.

Moraina thought it was a good idea, and Jak did as well, but he wondered what the cost would be.

"So if you want to take him out, why don't we just bait him and then you guys can drop a potato sack on his head and throw him in the ocean?" Jak pondered aloud, clearly irritated that this "Pitch" seemed annoyingly eternal.

"It's not that simple Jak; Pitch grows power with every child he plants his fearful seed into; the more plants he harvests, the more food for energy and power. If he-" North started.

"So just stick a sword in him when he's not looking. There's now six of us; how hard can this possibly be?" Moraina asked irritably twirling her weapon into the air and grimacing slightly, recalling her last encounter with the bastard.

"Unlike any of us, Moraina, Pitch can produce thousands of everlasting creatures at the twitch of his fingers; Sandman could too, but because he has only used them for dream-like purposes, they would be unfit for battles, only serving as a minor defensive use; Pitch's abominations could easily defeat them. In order to really eradicate the villain Pitch Black is, we must find his weakness. We must find his fear." North finished calmly, trying not to lose this patience.

"Well that's easy; he is afraid of becoming unseen again. He lacks conviction in whether or not he wants to really kill you." Jak concluded swiftly, as if the answer was obvious. North blinked, and gestured for him to elaborate.

"Back in the dark ages, he was the only one around to spread his fright, so now that you guys are here, he wants to get rid of you to set things 'right'. However, he is conflicted as to whether or not he really does want you _completely_ out of existence; this is slightly different than the dark ages, except his motivation for wanting us all gone is still the same. He wants you to be permanently weak and imobile, but still existing so the Man in the Moon can't create more gaurdians. " Moraina clearly stated, a scowl on her face as she began to become annoyed. Again.

She didn't understand what was setting her off; perhaps natural hatred comes unwillingly towards this man with a cowardice shadow for a body. It wouldn't surprise her.

"Exactly. It's all about balancing good and evil, if you want to visualize it." Jak added, both of them gazing up at the Santa with bored but brightened eyes. They wanted this all to end, but they were cautious; if they played the cards right and battled accurately, things may go their way.

The original icons of childhood simply stared at the two teenagers. They looked astounded and enlightened. "How did you figure that out so fast?" Tooth asked, eyes wide.

It was Jak's turn to blink as he exchanged a look of near confusion with his companion. "Let's just say we've had a while to observe people." He answered coldly, but tried to offer a small smile. Moraina let her gaze drop.

"Hmph, what is that supposed to mean?" Bunnymund inquired hotly, referring to Jak's last remark, ears twitching.

"Why would you even care?" Jak challenged, gripping his staff and stepping closer. Before anything could spark though, Moraina moved in between the bickering eternal males.

"Fighting right now is not the right path to travel on. Jak," She spat, but uttered her ally's name quietly, "control." She simply stated. Her friend nodded slightly, understanding as he backed off, but keeping his eyes trained on the creature in front of him. Bunny mirrored him.

"Moraina is right; arguing over nothing is unimportant. If we are going to defeat Pitch, we have to work together." The Tooth fairy declared, pulling the steaming bunny back closer to North's side of the room.

The embrace had been split; the older guardians were huddled in the front of the fireplace, and the two youngest guardians were on the opposite side in front of the globe. They may be temporary allies, but there was a tension in the room that crackled with every word any of the figures said. It was getting worse every moment.

"Well, what do you suggest? We sneak into his house and give him a poisoned apple?" Jak retorted, glaring at the opposing side. The side of Morain'a lips twitched.

"No. I think luring him out in an open space and attacking full on head-first is where we should start. Pitch is only one person; now that four has become six, how do you think he intends to defeat all of us?" North proposed strongly, pacing in front of his closer friends.

"That sounds like a reasonable plan, but isn't that what he wants us to do? Shouldn't we be finding a more creative way of taking this spaz-ass down?" Moraina asked skeptically, itching to just get this whole thing over with.

Tooth cringed at her words, but agreed nonetheless as she declared dryly, "Unfortunately, Pitch literally has the ability to vanish into thin air, it seems."

"Yeah we picked that up." Jak mumbled quietly. Tooth continued, ignoring it.

"So if he was distracted enough, then that is when we would have our chance to take him out. Quickly." Tooth finished dutifuly, watching the two youngsters carefully. They were like statues, and she wondered how they could stay still for so long.

"Okay. Sounds good. When do we uh...do this shananigan?" Jak piped, gripping his staff and standing close to Moraina as she too, was prepared to battle.

"Tomorrow. Some of us have business to attend to tonight, and we could all use the recovery for now." Bunny demanded, albeit the lack of discussion that followed. He hopped profusely into a hole that sunk in near his feet, and in a matter of heavenly seconds, the furry creature was gone.

"Don't worry about him; Bunny is a very caring guy once you get to know him. He just doesn't like strangers in his second home." North stated reassuringly, walking closer to Jak and Moraina, but they both remained stiff, as if North smelled funny to them.

"I don't think it's us that needs to be worrying." Moraina said coldly, every word sharp and feirce. She flew off of the ledge down to where the base of the factory was, Jak trailing her closely. North turned to Sandy and he shrugged, unsure as to why the two spirits were so hostile towards everything.

* * *

The sun shone, a glowing beam of hope through the stained windows of North's headquarters, promising happiness throughout the day.

What a sick joke.

Grunting, North awoke himself from an undeliberate nap in his swiveling wooden chair he fell asleep in some time ago.

"Oy vey...where's the hot chocolate?" He growled softly as he forced himself to walk out of the entrance to his office. He was greeted by the bickering exclaims fro a familiar talking bunny, who was standing in front of the always-raging fire.

"...up to cooperating? They're _children_ for goodness sakes! You saw them last night, they-"

"Helped us and saved us from nearly dying and ceasing to exist. You owe them at least a decent behavior for day while we try and get rid of Pitch the pest!" Tooth nearly shouted, shoving her petite nose into his furry face. Sandy was ignoring them, looking up at the sun, dancing in its brilliant rays.

"How long have you been here?" North asked groggily, rubbing his eyes and stroking his white beard. They two guardians ceased their antics and replied, "Not for very long, Jak and Moraina are looking around. We are ready to do this." Tooth exclaimed, a fire in her eyes that has never shone before. Bunny was too, but there was a underlying darkness in his.

"I don't think Jak and Moraina should fight; they don't seem happy to cooperate. Why should we let children do our work for us?"

"I think you forget how old we really are, Easter plush toy." A voice behind Bunnymund mused, and it was Jak's, his staff gleaming in the sun as he floated gracefully next to him. Moraina followed suit, but not as close. She wore a stone-hard expression, as if a huge war against worlds was awaiting outside the door.

"What?! You've got to be kidding-" he started, whipping towards Jak, finger outstretched.

"Relax bro, lighten up. Let's just get the boogeyman out to play, then you can have your fun, eh?" Jak mused once again, smiling. Trying to lighten up the mood, he nudged Moraina lightly, causing her to jump.

"Yeah fuzzball, loose the 'tude." She said, although it sounded a little more forced and hard compared to her companions.

"Look, I am glad you are all happy as can be, but I need to grab my coat and prepare my sleigh before we do anything or go anywhere. Wiait here, and try not destroy anything." North slurred, still sleepy.

At his last comment, his glanced very briefly at Moraina, and she stiffened again. Jak let his arm touch hers before saying, "Sounds great."

He turned towards Sandy, who was still amazed at how disco-ball like he was in the sun. "Hey Sandman, what can you do?" Jak asked, sending a small chill across the room towards the jovial man. He turned around and faced Jak and everyone else, a small smile on his face. Tooth grinned and Bunny stepped back, knowing his limits.

Jak waited expectantly for his show. Sandman's grin got wider as he lifted his small arms and tiny hands. Spewing like a waterfall, a shower of golden sand rained everywhere, and made a sea of golden dust on the carpet and floor. Hovering inches off of the wooden floor, he let it all settle while Moraina and Jak's eyes lit up at the beautiful sight of golden specks catching the sunlight like miniature rainbows.

Sandy waved his arms in circular motions, and the dust rose from the ground in spikes, creating a large dragon that spewed dust everywhere. Jak laughed and Moraina chuckled, amazed at the sight. Tooth and Bunny watched in amusement as Sandy did a splendid job of creating a beautiful atmosphere of a dancing dragon that flew so gracefully around the ceiling of the room, twirling and wagging it's long tail slowly. It was a mystery as to how the brilliant sandman did not fall off of his ride.

When he landed, he took a bow as the creature evaporated. Jak clapped, and Moraina mirrored him. "Well, I can't say that I'm not impressed; its not every day I get to see a sparkling dragon fly above my head." Moraina remarked warmly, but her face was still slightly etched with stone; she still was not ready to openly admit her alliance with these guardians.

Sandy made an arrow pointing to the two smiling spirits, signaling for them to show their powers.

Jak looked at Moraina, wondering if she wanted to go first. She nodded, and motioned for the sandman to step back. She breathed in, wary of the windows beside the fireplace.

Blinking a few times, she let the point of her newly formed sword touch the ground. Sprouting from where it made contact with the hard, mahogany wood, the room was covered in a thin layer of ice, and fog began to engulf the embrace of the room. Sandman did not dare move; he did not want to lose his balance. His feet felt cold and his nose began to sting. Moraina grinned and she leaped into the air, sailing through the whiteness of the air only to land softly behind the keen, golden man. She smiled widely, and spun his around with a twist of her hands, sending him around and around in dizzying circles as he began to move from his spot uncontrollably. Moraina giggled, and threw a knife in front of him; they served as bumper for him so he would not leave the iced area. He bounced like a toy backwards in the opposite direction, and when he slowed down enough to see, Moraina giggled again, and raised her arm. Sandman rose into the air upon a icy pillar that shot upwards at least ten feet into the air. Little specks of ice fell off as it raised higher and higher, up to Moraina's height. Smiling, she waved at him as he grinned at her equally.

Then, she waved her sword and he fell off of the platform. At first, he was frightened, but only to be joyful again as he slid smoothly onto what appeared to be an ice-slide of some sort. He slid downwards fast, around a loop and up again into the open air. Moraina let another small slide catch him, and it dropped him carefully back onto the slippery ground once more. After breathing a few times to catch his breath, Moraina grinned wide, Jak smiling as well in the corner of her eyes.

"That was just a sample, Sandy. You should see her on a battlefield." Jak commented joyfully.

"I'll say." Bunnymund gasped, watching the ice melt off of the ceiling and the walls as the fog settled. He blinked and followed closely by the Tooth Fairy, something clicked in him for just a moment.

"I hope you're ready for this, mate. I'll be looking forward to fighting by your side."

"You as well." Jak returned respectively, shaking hands with Bunnymund as Moraina did so as well.

There may be a rough battle ahead, but at least everyone understood each other to a person, healthy degree. After all, they all wanted the same thing : Pitch Black eradicated.

* * *

"Okay, so you get him to come onto this street, then Jak and Moraina can attack with Tooth. Bunnymund will find a weak spot, and knock him in the head with his boomerangs. Sound like a plan?" North declared, tightening his reins.

"What about you?" The tooth fairy inquired, putting a hand on his hefty shoulder.

"Ha! I'll be fighting too, but we must not forget, Pitch will have his pesty creatures with him as well; it won't be just us against him alone. We all must be wary and careful to not let him out of ours sights." North warned, and with that, the crisp air was biting at everyone's faces as they soared into the orange-sky. Jak and Moraina were flying near the sleigh while everyone else remained inside the vehicle. Though the Easter prodigy was less than pleased with sitting in a swaying, jerking, swerving object.

Upon arriving in the town of Burgess, yet again, everyone dismounted and it seemed Pitch had beat them there; many house lights were glowing, children were awake with the recent memories of nightmares.

Bunnymund dropped into one of his holes to find a hiding spot while everyone begin preparing for an intense fight. The air was full of tension; no one wanted to risk anyone getting seriously injured, but this was Pitch; he had to be stopped once and for all, or at least until he realized that his efforts were just ridiculous.

"So what, we just have to wait here until this mo-" Jak started, but was cut off by a brisk wind, and gathering storm above everyone's heads.

"Ah...my guardian friends...what a lovely surprise. I hoped I would see you again." The boogeyman's voice was like lingering fog that could cloud everyone's judgment and control. But not for the guardians.

"Come out where we can see you Pitch; if you want a challenge, come and get it!" Tooth shouted, fury in her petite voice. Her eyes darted around the town, the other guardians mirroring her movements. Pitch's laugh echoed maliciously off of walls and the walls of everyone's brains. Hopefully not Bunny's.

"What do you want? Either come out or we'll find you, and slice your-" Moraina threatened, sword gripped tightly in her left hand, but she was cut off.

"Oh stop bring everyone with your pathetic pleas for mercy." Pitch moaned, his shadow rolling over cars and the sleigh.

"Mercy?! What the-" She started again, fury laced with confusion in her voice.

"Oh please, we all know all you two want is to see your precious memories from your sparkling teeth." He finally appeared, waving his hands mockingly in the last words. His hair was sharp and pointed, and his cloak was straight along his back and thin arms.

Moraina and Jak were not sure whether this _was_ true or not; a part of them did want to help get rid of the pest, but the other part needed to see who they were. How can they know who they are when they did not even know who they were?

Pitch was smiling smugly, and was mounted on a tall, black horse. He had a few more behind him, and Moraina supposed more were hiding somewhere near him as well.

"I see you brought your friends. All tight now, are we? It will be such a pity to see a broken, sad, group of guardians after I am done with all of you." He sneered, showing his perfectly-white and menacing-looking teeth.

Moraina was done; she was _so _done with this jackass.

Inwardly growling, she threw four knives at his general direction. Two were zooming closer and closer to his neck an face, the other two on his sides, in hopes of getting rid of his backup. His eyes widened briefly before he ducked ungracefully, and let his two horses fall into a pile of black sand beside him.

They whizzed into the flanks of Pitch, but not into himself, but rather, behind him into more unfortunate horses.

Snarling, Pitch raised his hands and ordered his army to charge into the Guardians. North mirrored him, and the battle began.

* * *

"Jak! Stay close; take the battle in the air when possible; these things don't seem to as well in thin air if you know what I mean." I shouted, watching him out of my peripheral vision. He was laying down the law for apparition after apparition in rhythm with my own movements. Toothiana, North, and Sandy were battling things out, as expected of course, and I wondered how long it would take for-

BAM! An unknown source whopped me in the face when I wasn't looking. Pitch smiled, and had a black, swirling, cannonball-looking thing in his hand. I growled, and ignored the throbbing pain in my head. Instead, I slapped yet another tiger-thing from my flank and soared into the air, unwillingly taking Jak with me; he noticed me out of the corner of his eye. Taking a few of the reinforcements with us to lighten things up for the guardians, I whipped around at about five-thousand feet, thinking there would be a charging ,angry mob of black things coming at us from below.

I was half correct. There was a mob of them running at us, but what I was not expecting, was the size. Pitch somehow created a mass amount of crazy, made-up creatures ranging from lizards to horses to birds with beady, black eyes came at us. I glanced at Jak with slight worry. He returned it. Thinking fast, I raised my hands and I thought about rain. Instantly, hundreds of knives, small spears, swords, an axes formed out of pure ice. Jak was thinking the same thing; he twirled his staff and called on the frosty wind to send a shower of spiked, lethal-looking spheres towards the massive black, swarming dots charging towards us at a high speed.

"Ready?" I mouthed to Jak, arms raised. He nodded, and we slammed out arms down at the same time.

Hundreds to thousands of sharp, deadly weapons were now hailing down on the ebony, looming creatures. When they hit, there was a massive explosion in shards of ice, frost, and crisp winds. It was like a miniature atomic bomb hitting a storm and a large rock that was trying to explode. A bright, blinding blue light erupted that mixed with black shadows. I had to blink a few times, along with Jak until it finally settled.

But it wasn't enough. There was still ( albeit reduced to a much smaller size ) a still strongly-oncoming group of beady eyes. I groaned, and stiffened as it neared closer and closer. Jak flew closer to my side.

"Ready?"

"Yeah. It's for the teeth." I smirked, and Jak tried to as well, but it faltered.

Raising my sword, armor strengthening and repairing scratches an gashes, I waited for them to come closer until we charged. Within seconds, that glorious moment came, and I found the cold wind tearing at my face as Jak and I plunged into the black shadows.

* * *

"Tooth! A little help here!" North shouted across the empty, car-free street. Tooth responded by shoving the attacking creatures out of her way, and pulling the bats off of North's coat, whom were tearing it apart piece by piece.

Sandy was on the ground, counter-attacking the creatures by making his own and touching the occasional too-close-for-comfort apparition to make it fight for him, rather than against. He was starting to get just a little fatigued.

"Argkch...when is Bunny going to strike?!" Tooth screamed alongside North.

" I don't see Pitch! Maybe he can't get a clear shot. We need to find him th-" He was cut off by a lion leaping onto his shoulders, knocking him to the ground. North grunted in surprise, and dropped one of his bronze weapons. It fell with a clang and Tooth scooped it up to hand it back to him when a large, abnormally-sized snake coiled around her and began squeezing her guts and wings to a very uncomfortable position. She gasped as the blade begand digging into her stomach.

"Egck! Sandy!" She used any remaining breaths to gurgle out. Sandy turned to see his allies failing at trying to stay alive. When he was about to act, however, there was a blinding light above them, and the animals stopped to look upwards.

What happened next was nothing in the planned of what was supposed to happen.

* * *

"I could use another pair of hands!"

"A little busy!" Jak responded hotly, dodging a blow here, giving one out there, and moving swiftly in the air in the heat of combat. He was steadily moving away from Moraina, far enough to not hear her calls for help.

The ebony, glossy, eternal creations of Pitch ( who was watching from a distance ) were encircling both of the winter spirits, separating them gradually as he had done before with Sandman and the rest of the guardians.

But this outcome was much different.

"Jak! Jak?" Moraina was beginning to think he was ignoring her when, the rare opportunity came in which she could take a quick breath, glance where he previously hovered a moment ago, and realized that Pitch was just above him, pointing something at him with a sinister grin on his face.

Moraina zoomed towards them as fast as she possibly could; Pitch wasn't pointing, he was aiming: aiming an arrow or spear of some sort.

But she wasn't getting there fast enough. She couldn't throw that far either! What the hell was she supposed to do? In a frenzied, strange outburst, she stopped where she was, halfway to where Jak and Pitch was, and realized that Pitch was going to release his weapon that she knew for sure would kill or cause Jak great harm.

Harm Jak. _Jak_. Fear started to seep into her palms, her neck, and everywhere else.

Taking in a sharp breath, she cringed all of her muscles, and felt as if a bomb erupted inside of her, breaking some kind of invisible barrier.

"Stop!" She bellowed, making her throat sore immediately. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to picture freezing time, or something to allow her more time to get to Jak and Pitch.

In a loud, thunderous crack, the air shifted greatly, and it was as if the temperature dropped well below, _below _zero and the negatives. It was almost too cold for Jak and Moraina. The skies blended to make one, grey and black muster as everything seemed to be veiled in temporary darkness.

Moraina screamed again to warn Jak, to tell him to turn his ass around. But that wasn't what happened. Instead, Pitch's hands and legs were beginning to grow a steady, fast-developing layer of ice on his arms, and were rapidly crawling down his torso and his legs. His conjured shadows burst into shards of showering ice pieces like a nuclear exlosion as Pitch began to fall uncontrollably to the ground. The creatures on the ground did the same: bursting into nothing but water in a frozen state. Moraina opened her eyes, and what she saw was something strangely incredible.

Jak was safe, simply hovering in the air. Pitch was falling in a cocoon of ice, and the abhorrations he had created were gone.

* * *

The skies remained the same color, but the air went warmer again as Moraina swallowed any remaining adrenaline left. Forcing herself to get to the ground zero, she let herself fall until just a few feet above the pavement. It was near dawn.

"What was that?" Tooth exclaimed, zipping over to the panting Jak and Moraina, who had gathered near the sled at the end of the street they were battling at. North was picking up a sword and Bunny's head poked out of a rabbit hole. Moraina ignored the earsplitting questions from everyone and sprinted to the appearing rabbit, fury radiating off of her like waves in a desert.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU? PARTYING WITH PARISHABLES?! DID YOU NOT REMEMBER THE GODDAMN PLAN, KANGAROO HEAD?!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Everyone fell silent as Bunny replied with not quite as equally-filled force and temper.

"I was ambushed! Pitch sent some of his goons to plug up my warren and tunnels!"

"Why didn't you just come back up and help us then, you numbnuts?!"

"It's not that simple. I told you, I was ambushed; that means I could not escape either way, in _or_ out of my warren! Besides, it didn't seem the battle lasted that long; you didn't need me."

"DIDN'T _NEED_ YOU?! SO YOU WERE JUST GOING TO TAKE YOUR TIME IN ALL OF THIS? DID YOU MAYBE CONSIDER THE FACT THAT HE HAS UNLIMITED CREATIONS _AND_ SUPPLIES OF ETERNAL BASTARDS?!" Moraina raged once more, spitting in his face, sword looking as if it was about to strike it.

"I had problems of my own! How-" he started, but Jak interrupted.

"Hey, we need to get Pitch back to the workshop while he's in an icicle before he thaws out. Moraina," he put a resting hand on her shoulder. She swiped it off, and spat, "fine,'' and turned her back on Bunny.

"Yeah walk away. Need an ice bath you numptsey?" Bunny taunted, just loud enough for her to hear, along with Jak.

Moraina snarled and threw a slid iceball at his face. He fell backwards onto the pavement, smacking his head in doing so. No harm came to the bunny, seeing as a blur of frost was now covering his whiskers.

"You want to go there, frostface?! FINE!" Bunny screeched, whipping out his boomerangs. He threw one at Moraina, ignoring North and Tooth's attempts to get them to stop. Jak ushered them back before they got hurt as well, but he knew this was going nowhere. Moraina and Bunnymund, however, thought differently.

Moraina ducked, slicing the wooden stick in half with her longsword, sending it plummeting to the ground by her feet. She screamed, throwing her arms forward to send a gust of wind and snow towards the raging rabbit. Bunny's eyes widened as he saw a hurling snow and ice cloud zooming towards him. He jumped upwards onto a building, trying to escape it. Moraina growled and flew up to where he was. But before she could cut his head off, Jak suddenly landed right in front of her, her sword raised and face twisted.

"Moraina, stop! The fighting is over; Pitch needs to be taken as a prisoner at the Pole right now. We'll discuss this later, but frolicking around is not-"

"_Frolicking_ around? You think _that_ is what I am doing, just _frolicking_ around?!" She exclaimed, hotly, but lowering her weapon that was about to get thrown at Bunny.

"Okay, not frolicking, but this is just unnecessary and not logical to be doing right now. Let's just leave, okay?" Moraina noticed he did not say 'go home', and obeyed hesitantly, glaring behind him at Bunny as a warning.

"Great." Jak moved closer warily, and nodded to North and the astounded others.

"We'll catch up with you later." He said just a little louder for them to hear, as well as turning around to face the Easter prodigy. He grunted, and sunk into his hole as a radiant, blue daisy signaled his departure.

North, Sandman, and Toothiana climbed into the sleigh slowly, still recovering from past events while dragging the large, black icicle known as Pitch, in with them with disgust. His eyes were still open in pure surprise.

North gave a firm look to the paired winter harbingers before commanding his ride to lift of into the air, and into a cone-shaped portal back to the Pole.

Moraina exhaled.

* * *

"It is apparent that it is not wise to separate those two." Tooth remarked, now facing the giant globe, alongside her guardians, minus the winter spirits.

"It would appear so; if Jak is the only one that can stop Moraina from slaying anyone like that, and vice versa, then tearing them apart is not wise at all." North concurred, blinking at the twinkling lights on the globe, which were slowly restoring as Pitch was now their captive.

As soon as they got to the workshop, Sandy and Bunnymund had placed Pitch into the depths of the cold, underground part of the workshop where the Sled emerged from, but even deeper. They had carved a hole to place him in like a puzzle piece, then put ice blocks that were shaped by yetis to cover it back up; Pitch could not escape if he could not melt, but the question still lingered in the guardians' minds: how was the untrained, temper-filled, winter spirit able to cause Pitch's sand to simultaneously combust, as well as instantly make Pitch immobile?

It was obvious that if she and were Jak were the only ones that could stop each other from harming others, then they should be kept together in battle next time, and during heated...arguments between other life forms.

"So what now? We just forget everything and let Pitch rot in the hell he deserves to be in?" Bunny.

"We could, but we made a deal." Tooth countered, resting a hand on Bunny's furry shoulder.

The teeth.

* * *

"You know after all these years, I thought building a wall of anger and everything else inside me would protect others." Moraina commented, flicking a snowflake off of her keen armor. She threw her sword off of the building, only to watch it fall and burst into a plume of snowflakes as it spread onto the sidewalk like water.

"Me too." Jak sighed, leaning onto Moraina.

To be honest, they could both admit they were beyond exhausted. This battle was exhausting, and Pitch's comments about the teeth and past memories still lingered in their minds. Jak was beyond confused as to how Moraina could do the things she just did: in the battle and after.

What had gotten into his best friend? Had she experienced a cold snap of some sort? Had she turned against him? Perhaps she just had after-battle anger issues; this was one of the first official wars they had fought in. Spreading winter and ice all around the place was not that scarring.

Except, in a painful way, it always was. Every year, they knew that millions of circumstances in crashes, loss of life, major injuries, and dangerous situations occurred thanks to the two spirits. What could they do, though? They could not monitor the whole world and prevent every thousand of dented bumpers and icicle-impalements at all costs.

They tried to ignore all of this, think that it doesn't happen as often as it does, but every time they went by a window or a house, there was talk of something or someone in a tragic accident due to the weather. The news was on, out of someone's mouth; either way, it delivered the same message to Jak and his only ally: winter was never good, that meant that Jak and Moraina and Jak could never be good beings.

"So what now?" Moraina asked, floating in the air, letting a trail of icicles grow on houses and below cars.

"Toothiana said she would keep her end of the deal with the teeth. Should we...you know, see them?" Jak inquired carefully. He wanted to, he really did, but a part of him-

"I really don't know. At this point, I think Pitch was right. Are we really ready to see them? What if we find out we were, I dunno, crazy idiots who killed people, and now do the same for no cost or immediate consequence. How might knowing our past change who we are now?" It was as if Moraina read his mind.

"I don't know. But Pitch was not right; he never will be. He doens't know us."

Moraina stopped, and looked at him with her peircing gaze. Her hair was falling out of her bun, but the ice that stuck to it from clashing her sword was sparkling with the just-peaking sun on the horizon.

"How do you know? Everything he said makes sense. "

"That doesn't mean it's spot-on correct. If I told you that you were ugly, and worthless, and you agreed with me, does that make it true?" Jak questioned strongly, peering closely into Moraina's eyes.

"No, but-"

"Exactly. Pitch is an evil son of a bitch that doesn't know power and strength from his own ass. We can't let him seperate us of anyone else for that matter." Jak declared. He wasn't trying to persuade Moraina to view their memories, but he knew that everything he was relaying was true, and he meant every damn word. Pitch was nothing, that's why he spent his life in te pitiful shadows.

Moraina smirked, watching the sun rise and kiss the retreating clouds and the frosted-over grass and windows, making everything shine like a polishied, glossy car.

"Let's go back. I think we should see those memories. Besides, even if we were horrible kids, who cares? It shouldn't affect us right now, at this moment." He felt like he should move closer, but something was holding him back.

"Okay."

* * *

"Jak!" Tooth squealed, and whizzed over to the two, cold figures. After explaining what they did with Pitch, she searched their eyes for a sign that the only reason they were now at the workshop was to view what everyone knew they would: the teeth.

"Are-did...um, I guess you-" Tooth awkwardly started, rubbing the back of her neck.

Moraina and Jak drew in a breath, but was cut off by a great rumble from below the wooden building.

North grumbled, storming into a doorway as everyone followed him. The atmosphere had shifted suddenly as Bunny asked loudly from behind Sandy, "What's happening?"

"I don't know! We need to get down to where we placed Pitch! I bet you it has to with 'im!" Norh replied gruffly, drawing his swords for what seemed like the millionth time this week. Tooth hissed, and Jak and Moraina flew down the corridor that led to the elevator to the deep, dark "dungeon" for Pitch.

Jak arrived in front of where Pitch was supposed to be first, and what he saw stunnned him.

The rest of the guardians and Moraina arrived shortly after, and Tooth gasped. Bunny let a long string of curses roll from his mouth. North rumbled a loud roar, and Sandy started vibrating back and forth, dusty steam emitting from his ears and fists as he looked like a train engine about to explode.

Pitch was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

Note: Yes, I realize:

1) I have taken what seems like nearly half a year to post the last_ Finding the Point_ chapter

2) I have lacked posting chapters for my other stories ( _Better in a Powerfully_...)

3) I am still lacking to post chapters as often as I would like to.

But, some of us are busy with trying to do what their damn coaches tell them to do, so it behooves me to tell you ( my followers or anyone else ) that my chapters will often have gaps between them. However, I do this also because I wish for my readers to take their time in reading each chapter carefully. As much fun as it would be to post short, measly 1,200- word chapter EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND, just for the sake of keeping up with the plot, it can get to be a load of Fanfiction emails with links you have not touched in weeks. I am currently following a story, and I can tell you now that the author is talented, but intends to post the short chapters every few days. They consist of little to no major plot points, and I can imagine she/he has about 50 different slots for chapters in his DOC Man. file. I find myself rushing through chapter 10 just to get to chapter 11 before he/she posts chapter 12 through 15. In a week of no reading, it becomes a pile of pages on any device.

That's what I don't want.

So, I am still committed to this story and I will tell you that I would be surprised if there were more than 5-8 chapters left. I am intending to finish it with a bang and a memorable imprint in any reader's mind.

Read, review if you must, enjoy the story, and message me if you have any questions; the plot may seem confusing as well as the characters motivations, but in any case, just message me for further details. Additionally, when the time comes, I will be asking any of followers what they think the end could be shaped like. Please don't give me any ideas now; I haven't got it fully mapped out yet, but I have a few bases; I may even write two different endings. I am a strong believer that readers should at least be able to say what the end _could_ look like ( whether that involves Jak and Moraina's memories, their relationship, and/or the fate of other characters ) but not what it _should_ look like.

Please accept my apology that in this story, waiting gaps will be the normal tendency, but not to my own accord. Thank you to all of my followers and/or readers who have devoted their time to my story.


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